Keynote
The epic conclusion of Mary Jo Bang’s celebrated translation of Dante’s The Divine Comedy
Book Title
Paradiso
Cover Image
- “Mary Jo Bang’s succinct and lucid new version of Paradiso . . . clarifies the more complex allusions and reflects close attention to Dante’s original text. . . . Bang shows once again how the life of The Divine Comedy is . . . ‘indebted to its afterlife.’”—Nick Havely
Poem Excerpt
Then, the way an arrow strikes a target
Even before the bowstring stops quivering,
We raced that fast into the second realm.
My Lady’s joy was such that, as she passed
Into the light of that heaven, I saw the planet
Itself become that much brighter.
And if the star changed and sparkled,
What did I become—I who by my very nature
Am mercurial in every way?
—from "Canto V"
Even before the bowstring stops quivering,
We raced that fast into the second realm.
My Lady’s joy was such that, as she passed
Into the light of that heaven, I saw the planet
Itself become that much brighter.
And if the star changed and sparkled,
What did I become—I who by my very nature
Am mercurial in every way?
—from "Canto V"
Body
Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Paradiso completes her groundbreaking new version of Dante’s masterpiece, begun with Inferno and continued with Purgatorio. In Paradiso, Dante has been purified by his climb up the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory, and now, led by the luminous Beatrice, he begins his ascent through the nine celestial spheres of heaven toward the Empyrean, the mind of God. Along the way, we meet the souls of the blessed—those at various proximities to God, but all existing within the bliss of heaven’s perfect order. Philosophically rich, spiritually resonant, Paradiso is a reckoning with justice and morality from a time of ethical questioning and political division much like our own.
Bang’s translation is a revelation in its artistry, readability, and faithfulness to Dante’s ambition for an epic poem that dares to employ language and references recognizable to its readers. In her lyric style and her illuminating and generous notes, Bang has made The Divine Comedy for the twenty-first century.
Bang’s translation is a revelation in its artistry, readability, and faithfulness to Dante’s ambition for an epic poem that dares to employ language and references recognizable to its readers. In her lyric style and her illuminating and generous notes, Bang has made The Divine Comedy for the twenty-first century.
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About the Author
Credit: Carly Ann Faye
Praise
- “Bang has recognized that the Comedy is a living poem, contemporaneous with all poetry that has followed it. Having translated it into a language alive to the very moment in which it is meant to be read, Bang has done the impossible: she has revitalized that which is eternal.”—Shane McCrae
